The ongoing COVID-19 crisis continues to evolve at a rapid pace, making it difficult to know where we’ll stand as a country and an industry when our Spring issue of EFA is delivered to you.
What I do know now, though, is that we’ve all been quickly thrust into an entirely new and challenging reality—both personally and professionally. Many of us are living in states with stay-at-home orders in place and are working remotely. Industry events have been canceled, including our own EFA Expo & Conference. Meanwhile, we have friends and family members deemed essential workers who continue to support our communities, our healthcare organizations, and our senior living centers.
And how this pandemic has affected the latter can’t be overstated. By now we’re well familiar with what unfolded at Life Care Center of Kirkland in Kirkland, Wash., where 129 cases of COVID-19 were identified, resulting in the deaths of 23 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In response, we’ve seen senior living communities across the country fall under new guidance from the CDC and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including restricting all visitors, with exceptions made only for end-of-life scenarios, as well as nonessential and volunteer workers. Group activities and communal dining have been canceled, while the health of residents and staff is being closely monitored.
Providers are now doing a forced reset of their operations at just about every level. And while so much of what’s being managed today exists in the operational realm, its long-term effect on the design of senior living environments will certainly come.
I reached out to our EFA Editorial Advisory Board to gauge their initial thoughts on COVID-19 and its influence on design. Vassar Byrd, chief executive officer of Rose Villa Senior Living in Portland, Ore., said construction on the community’s new skilled nursing neighborhood has paused, allowing her time to reach out to staff to reflect on how this current crisis might still influence the project going forward. For example, she’s considering details as specific as faucets on public sinks allowing for proper handwashing and carefully thinking through the air-handling system.
Steve Lindsey, chief executive officer of Garden Spot Communities in New Holland, Pa., is finding new appreciation for the household model and the ease it brings to managing small cohorts of residents, and thus reducing the likelihood of infection spread, as well as supporting social distancing and reducing feelings of isolation.
It’s safe to say that these ideas will only continue to be realized. And as this industry responds to help control COVID-19’s reach into senior living today, I encourage you to share your insights and observations with us at EFA. And we’ll do everything we can to keep this industry connected and informed, no matter the distance between us.
To share your perspectives and insights, email Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Kovacs Silvis at [email protected].
